Vulnerability Identified in Genomic Data Sharing Network

03

Nov

2015

A vulnerability in a network that processes genomic data could pave the way to some global genetic databases being hacked, and open the door to some serious privacy issues.

Experts claim the problem lies in The Beacon Project, a network run by a coalition, Global Alliance for Genomics and Health, that parses genetic data. When users send pings to “beacons,” or servers, they’re essentially sending queries, asking whether different data sets have genomes with certain nucleotides, traits, and so forth.